aguila22

Hey Everyone,
I am planning a one way road trip between San Francisco (where I live) and Vancouver or vice versa with my wife. We are celebrating the completion of my PhD during the month of July (either beginning or end). We are planning on renting a car one way. We would like to stay multiple days in Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver with day long stays (2-4) at mostly coastal spots between. Our time line right now is between 11-13 nights.
Here are some questions:

Does it matter whether we drive north or south?

What are some can't miss places?

Is this a good amount of time for what we want or are we trying to do too much?

Would it matter if we went in early or late July?

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

beachbum

The usual recommendation, at least for the Oregon coast, is to drive south. Two reasons; you're closer to the view, and you don't have to cross traffic to pull into roadside parks and viewpoints.

I'd pick late July, as summer in the Northwest sometimes doesn't really start until early that month.

I'm admittedly biased, but, with the exception of Cape Disappointment State Park in WA, think the best coastal scenery in this itinerary would be from Cannon Beach, Oregon south. So, I'd suggest doing your city visits - Vancouver, Seattle, Portland - then driving the coast to San Francisco. And since the real attraction of the Northwest is the outdoors, I'd plan that part of the itinerary first, and allocate what's left to the cities.

Is 11-13 nights enough? You could easily spend a month! ;-) But, some of the coastal sights/attractions in Oregon I'd recommend for consideration would be Cannon Beach & Ecola State Park, Three Capes Scenic Loop, Cape Perpetua, Haceta Head, Oregon Dunes.... Shore Acres State Park... and just about any beach from Port Orford south to the border. Hard to pick just a few. For overnight stops, again Cannon Beach, Yachats, and Gold Beach, especially if a jetboat ride up the Rogue River is of interest. Even if not, Tu Tu Tun Lodge is itself worth an overnight. Most places in Cannon Beach will require a two-night minimum.

Once you've settled on a route, we can help you further fill in the blanks.

happytrailstoyou

Beachbum has pretty much covered all the bases.

In WA you may want to include the Olympic Peninsula or, at the least, Mt. Rainier NP.

I suggest a minimum of two nights in each of Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland.

Purchase a good guide book for the OR coast. In many places one must drive off 101 for the great ocean views.

You should be able to get a very good idea of the area in 11-13 nights--assuming you aren't going to squeeze in the redwoods and Highway 1 north of San Francisco.

curmudgeon

You may find picking one or the other direction gives a significant difference in the drop charge for the one-way car rental. In early summer, it would likely be cheaper to go North, in late summer cheaper to go South. Not sure if it will make a difference in July.

Gardyloo

Do some comparative shopping; you might be better off having two cars - one in BC and the other in the US. Just take the train between Vancouver and Seattle (either way) - it's very cheap and more scenic than driving anyway. I suspect that you'll find the total cost of the car will be significantly cheaper that way.

I'd do southbound personally.

Don't overlook Whistler as a day trip or overnight from Vancouver, and the Columbia Gorge from Portland.

There are literally hundreds of threads here on this trip. A little searching will yield dividends.

Congrats on your Pretty Heavy Diploma!

Suelynne

I would definitely choose the two car option. We spent 14 days and nights doing the same thing in early June. Because we needed to be in Vancouver a few days into the trip, we picked up a car in Seattle and headed up to Vancouver on the third day. As we spent the second day in Seattle in the San Juans we actually covered some of the same ground several times. Hence we lost some time we made up by missing the North Oregon coast - but we did go to Mt Rainier on the way to Portland. I can thoroughly recommend the trip anyway.

portlander

Skip the Oregon and Washington coast from Tillamook north to Canada. Head inland from Tillamook to Portland (going north) and don't miss Mt St Helens. The drive from Ptld to Vancouver on I-5 is BORING but the volcano is worth it. Whistler will be gorgeous but it's 2 hours NW of Vancouver (we enjoy seeing the the 2010 Olympics prep going on on Sea To Sky Hwy). It sounds corny but Butchart Gardens is fabulous in Vancouver. There are border webcams for crossings now --- you'll have quite a line in summer.

elnap29

The Butchart Gardens are fabulous, but they are outside of Victoria, not in Vancouver.

In planning your trip, you might consider the Victoria Clipper, a boat which can take you from Seattle to San Juan Island to Victoria, B.C. Check out the website http://www.clippervacations.com/

Last July we used their booking service for a vacation in Seattle, the San Juan Islands, Victoria, Vancouver and back to Seattle. All transportaion and lodging were included, and we chose the train to return to Seattle. It was fantastic! There is a lot of flexibility and you could even just use them for a day trip or an overnight from any of their ports. You could fly into Seattle or into Vancouver, use the Clipper, ending in Seattle or even Portland, then rent the car to drive south on the coast.

I highly recommend adding the San Juan Islands into your trip, especially if it is your first view of an archapelago. Go to the top of Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island for an outstanding view. Watch for the orcas swimming near shore at San Juan Island.

In Vancouver, we especially loved walking in Stanley Park and around English Bay.

We loved Seattle, too, and recommend the Underground Tour as well as our favorite restaurants, Lola's and Etta's.

Have a great time planning your trip!